Three plane crash victims identified today

The remains of three more victims of a small-plane crash were identified today as salvage workers continued to scour the waters of Lake Michigan for wreckage of the accident that killed all six men aboard.

The victims, members of an organ procurement team from the University of Michigan, died June 4 when their Cessna Citation plunged into the lake shortly after taking off from General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. Moments earlier, a pilot reported a problem with the plane's trim system, which controls bank and pitch.

The three men identified today were cardiac surgeon Martinus Spoor; transplant specialist Rick LaPensee; and David Ashburn, a physician-in-training in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery.

Remains of pilots Dennis Hoyes and Bill Serra were recovered and identified earlier through dental records and DNA analysis.

The sixth occupant, transplant donation specialist Richard Chenault II, had not been identified, but the coroner's office said it was confident that investigators would make an identification "in the near future" through DNA analysis.

The only scattered pieces of wreckage to be recovered thus far -- including pilot seats and pieces of the cockpit -- washed up on shore, said John Brannen, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator.

"The plan now is to bring up the main wreckage, as much as we can," Brannen said today as a salvage crew prepared to launch a two-man diving team. "But the smaller parts now cover about 34 acres on the lake bottom so we'll have to see how much we can get."

Rick Chianelli, operations manager for salvage firm T & T Bisso LLC of Houston, said his crew would work 12-hour days until the search is called off, but it was too early to know how long the search would take.

"It depends on the volume of what's out there," said Chianelli, whose crew is being overseen by the NTSB. "But it certainly won't be (done in) one or two days."

The plane was headed to Willow Run Airport carrying donor lungs for a critically ill patient. The patient had a transplant later in the week with organs from another donor.

Authorities have said weather was not a factor in the crash, which is still under investigation.

The donor organs came from a patient at Columbia St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, where officials held a memorial service this afternoon to "help us to come together as a health care system, as a community to express our sympathies," spokeswoman Kathleen Schmitz said.

In a 30-minute service, the Rev. Vicki Watkins told about two dozen attendees the spirit of the six men endures.

"They'll be remembered as doing what they loved: helping others, helping strangers," she said.